This class examines the environmental history of the world’s largest geographical feature – the Pacific Ocean --  to explore how the ecology, politics, and culture of the maritime region have changed in the Anthropocene period, this current geological era of significant human impact on the Earth’s natural world and climate. We will investigate how the natural environment  shaped the foundations of culture from New Zealand to Alaska, examine ecological legacies of early exploration and colonization, study transmarine economic developments (from industrial fishing to the opening of Panama Canal and container vessel transport), discuss the longterm aquatic legacies of various military conflicts (including World War Two, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War) and finally analyze the environmental costs of current Pacific maritime concerns, from Japanese nuclear waste disposal following the 2011 Fukushima disaster to China’s construction of new deep ocean islands in fragile reef zones of the South China Sea.

Inst 345: Japan in the World

In the fifty years since the Japanese “Economic Miracle” of the 1960s and the pronouncement by some Western observers of “Japan as Number One,” Japan catapulted to extraordinary global influence as the motor of a new “Asian Century,” and then precipitously fell in stature during the “Lost Decades” of 1990-2010. At least this is the narrative told by the Western media, but is it true?   Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course examines Japan’s recent history to explore the causes of contemporary economic and cultural malaise, as well as the sources of its resilience and enduring world influence. We begin by critically examining the shorthand terms journalists and scholars have used to identify Japan’s recent national trajectory, and then move to an overview of its modern history. In the second half of the course, we evaluate Japan’s ability to exert both “hard” and “soft” power abroad since the 1970s, in the form of military, diplomatic, economic, and cultural influence.   This class offers a historical overview of modern Japan for students most interested in broadening their general knowledge of East Asia while also providing a topical analysis of the core issues shaping contemporary Japan for students writing a Japan related thesis.

In the forty years from the Japanese 'Economic Miracle' of the 1960s and the pronouncement by some Western observers of 'Japan as Number One,' Japan catapulted to extraordinary global influence as the motor of a new 'Asian Century,' and then precipitously fell in stature during the 'Lost Decades' of 1990-2010. At least this is the narrative told by the Western media, but is it true? Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course examines Japan's recent history to explore the causes of contemporary economic and cultural malaise, as well as the sources of its enduring world influence. We begin by critically examining the shorthand terms journalists and scholars have used to identify Japan's recent national trajectory, and then move to an overview of its modern history. In the second half of the course, we evaluate Japan's ability to exert both 'hard' and 'soft' power abroad since the 1970s, in the form of military, diplomatic, economic, and cultural influence.